Spongivory by Fishes on Southwestern Atlantic Coral Reefs: No Evidence of Top-Down Control on Sponge Assemblages

Lorders, Fernanda L.; Miranda, Ricardo J.; Nunes, José de Anchieta C. C.; Barros, Francisco

doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00256

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 76 publications

(101 reference statements)

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“…, Lesser and Slattery ), lack of support for a strong role of top‐down control on sponge populations (Wulff , Lorders et al. ), and the use of poor experimental design and analysis (Pawlik et al. ) to support top‐down processes as the primary control on sponge abundance and distribution (Slattery and Lesser ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, the important role of trophic resource availability, both POM and DOM, for sponges from shallow to mesophotic depths as a primary factor controlling the patterns of sponge abundance and distribution, is still contested (Pawlik et al 2013(Pawlik et al , 2015a. This despite evidence supporting a strong role for bottom-up control of sponge populations through food limitation (Lesser 2006, Trussell et al 2006, Lesser and Slattery 2013, lack of support for a strong role of top-down control on sponge populations (Wulff 2017, Lorders et al 2018, and the use of poor experimental design and analysis (Pawlik et al 2013) to support top-down processes as the primary control on sponge abundance and distribution (Slattery and Lesser 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sponge density increases with depth throughout the Caribbean

Lesser

Slattery

2018

Ecosphere

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Mesophotic coral reefs (MCEs) are ecologically unique components of coral reef ecosystems that occur at depths from ~30 to 150 m where they support a high number of depth‐endemic species. One ecologically important taxonomic group that can, especially in the Caribbean basin, dominate these habitats are sponges where they occur throughout the shallow (<30 m) to mesophotic depth range. There are an increasing number of studies on MCEs generally, and sponges have become a focal area for many of these studies as they exhibit a number of ecological and functional traits that vary with increasing depth. Here, we use an analysis of both historical and contemporary data to test the recently described “sponges increase with depth” hypothesis. While this hypothesis has recently been rejected without benefit of any quantitative analysis, we show that the density or percent cover of sponges increases over the shallow to mesophotic depth range for multiple reef sites in the Caribbean, and also in the Pacific at selected sites. The proximate cause for this pattern appears to be the increasing availability of trophic resources, and the ability to differentially use those resources, with increasing depth. The increase in sponge density or percent cover with depth is potentially global in nature and results in diverse, and unique, sponge‐dominated communities at mesophotic depths.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sponge density increases with depth throughout the Caribbean

Lesser

Slattery

2018

Ecosphere

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“…Data from P. paru and P. arcuatus were combined because their sponge feeding was indistinguishable. Ivlev's Index of Electivity (see Lorders et al [2018] for a sponge example) was calculated for each sponge species from the percent of the total bites taken by Pomacanthus spp. on that species, and the percent represented by that species of the total sponge volume in the area in which feeding was observed (mean of two census periods spanning four years during the feeding data accumulation period; Wulff 2006 a ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Brazil, Lorders et al (2018) attributed the lack of support their data gave to a scenario of top-down control of reef sponges to differences between Brazil and the Caribbean in diversity, sedimentation, and turbidity. Their thorough three-pronged approach found no correlation of spongivore (angelfishes) abundance with either sponge cover or sponge-coral competitive interactions, and two of the top four sponge choices by Brazilian angelfish were species judged "defended" by pellet assays with captive wrasses (Pawlik et al 1995).…”

Section: Habitat Reliably Predicts Patterns In Sponge Defenses Against Predatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Targeted predator defenses of sponges shape community organization and tropical marine ecosystem function

Wulff

2021

Ecological Monographs

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Defenses that target particular consumers often influence community organization, ecosystem function, and diversity maintenance. In coral reef, mangrove, and seagrass ecosystems, sponges affect substratum stability, water clarity, diversity of associated species, and survival of habitat-providing organisms, key roles not duplicated by other organisms. Whether and how predators control sponges are much disputed. Substantial ecosystem consequences of losing or gaining sponges motivated definitive experiments on how predators control sponge distribution and abundance. Caribbean sponges of 94 species representing 13 taxonomic orders and three linked habitats (coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass meadows) were exposed to seven predator species representing different habitats and degrees of spongivory in 4,493 in situ trials. The resulting data force reassessment of popular interpretations of several patterns and processes. Contrary to extract pellet assays that declare most sponges deterrent, 78% of these 94 species were eaten by at least one predator. But "palatability" is consumer dependent: a sponge species eaten by one predator can be rejected by other predators, and predator species differed in what sponges they ate in 55.4% (214/392) of pairwise comparisons between predators. Because spongivore species are usually restricted to particular habitats, they impose abrupt boundaries on sponges' habitat distributions, reflecting inverse relationships between accessibility and palatability to each predator. Thus a seagrass-dwelling starfish eats only 9% of seagrass sponge species, but 70% of coral reef species, and 78% of mangrove species. Reef-dwelling angelfishes completely consume only 13% of reef species, but 29% of seagrass species, and 63% of mangrove species. Defenses that target specific predators reveal that spongivore influence on community organization cannot be inferred from extract pellet/ omnivore assays that assume defenses target all predators equally. In fact, pellet data wrongly predicted actual consumption of living sponges of that pellet's species in 43% of field experiments with spongivores. In contrast with herbivore-plant interactions, opportunistic spongivory is at least as important as routine spongivory for community organization and ecosystem function. Potential for loss of key functional roles of sponges, if opportunistic predators gain access to sponge species that lack defenses against them, must inform conservation plans for coral reef, mangrove, and seagrass ecosystems.

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“…Essa espécie é conhecida por ser oportunista e bastante competitiva por espaço, e também é considerada uma espécie insensível a distúrbios ambientais [35]. Alguns estudos também demonstram que essa esponja faz parte da dieta de alguns peixes [13,36,37].…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Registro de petróleo em poríferos e cnidários durante o impacto agudo de derramamento no Nordeste brasileiro em 2019

et al. 2020

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Toneladas de petróleo atingiram centenas de localidades ao longo da costa nordestina brasileira entre agosto e dezembro de 2019. A mídia enfatizou o impacto apenas para os vertebrados de grande porte ou com apelo midiático, e algumas pesquisas acadêmicas foram feitas com foco em espécies de interesse comercial, não contemplando outras espécies que também podem ter sido afetadas, em especial os invertebrados bentônicos sésseis ou de pouca mobilidade. Este trabalho teve como objetivos conferir a existência de resquícios de óleo em uma praia urbana da cidade após a limpeza feita por voluntários e funcionários de órgãos governamentais e investigar a ocorrência de petróleo em algumas espécies de poríferos e cnidários comuns nos afloramentos rochosos do litoral de Salvador. Após a limpeza feita por voluntários e órgãos governamentais. Os exemplares coletados foram identificados e necropsiados sob lupa. Como resultado das observações de campo verificou-se que, mesmo após a limpeza, a praia continuava apresentando diversos vestígios de óleo na areia, nas rochas e também nas algas. Foram identificadas quatro espécies de Porifera (Amphimedon viridis, Cinachyrella apion, Cliona varians e Desmapsamma anchorata) e quatro de Cnidaria (Bellactis ilkaliaseae, Bunodosoma cangicum, Palythoa caribaeorum e Zoanthus sociatus), sendo encontrados vestígios de petróleo na espongiocele de D. anchorata e na faringe de B. ilkaliaseae. Tais registros ampliam o número de taxa afetados pelo impacto agudo após o evento de derramamento de óleo no Nordeste em 2019.

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Spongivory by Fishes on Southwestern Atlantic Coral Reefs: No Evidence of Top-Down Control on Sponge Assemblages

Cited by 10 publications

References 76 publications

Sponge density increases with depth throughout the Caribbean

Sponge density increases with depth throughout the Caribbean

Targeted predator defenses of sponges shape community organization and tropical marine ecosystem function

Registro de petróleo em poríferos e cnidários durante o impacto agudo de derramamento no Nordeste brasileiro em 2019

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